This Poem was Submitted By: Gene Dixon On Date: 2008-09-15 17:40:28 . . . Click Here To Mail this Poem to a Friend!To Listen to Music While Reading this Poem, just Click Here!
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Oppenheimer's Lament Great petals in the sky burst yellow, red.
On stems of fire, mad flowers take their bloom
And in their madness call forth mankind's doom.
In seconds short, all are among the dead.
As far as eyes can see, the land laid waste.
As far as ears can hear, the sounds of pain
And some perceive such frightful loss as gain
Although there's only ashes left to taste.
From smallest seeds this demon giant did grom.
From minds of men comes such an awesome beast
That looks at life as tidbits in a feast
And revels in the worlds that it lays low.
All life is death, all souls are gone to sod.
Thus is their fate when men equate with God.
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Copyright © September 2008 Gene Dixon
Additional Notes:
A re-posting - prompted by James Horak's "Entirety" -
Oppenheimer is most widely remembered as the "father of the atom bomb"
His words when he saw the awesome power he helped unleash: "We have become Death, the destroyer of worlds!"
A quote from Vishnu.
Thanks for the reminder, James.
This Poem was Critiqued By: Dellena Rovito On Date: 2008-10-06 01:18:03
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 10.00000
Gene,
Such a thoughtful/real life today poem.
Evil wars/death/beast not a feast. [maybe for the money makers]
We are in such a dismal place if only we could unite as people and make real change
before the 80% are population controlled.
And our weather manipulations stopped.
Life isn't to be death prematurely.
Love your deep thinking and magic wording.
Very nice job an attention getting title [The destroyer of worlds]
Dellena
This Poem was Critiqued By: Mark Andrew Hislop On Date: 2008-09-22 20:41:37
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 1.00000
Dear Gene
This is not one to pick apart. From start to finish it reads "like a moment's thought"...the evidence of hard work.
The philosophy is eloquent, restrained, and dignified.
Best wishes
Mark
This Poem was Critiqued By: marilyn terwilleger On Date: 2008-09-18 00:40:25
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 9.80000
Hi Gene....You know by now I have a soft spot for sonnets. I use to believe most sonnets were written about love and flowery things, however I now know that is not the case. I have also learned that a sonnet can be a sonnet even if the iambs may not be as strict as I thought they should be. Imagine my relief! I have read this one several times and each time it seems to gain power in my mind. What a horrible beast was unleashed when the atom bomb came into being. I think that is what is so scary about war, which is in itself a beast of mass destruction and death that never seems to be sated. Don't laugh but when I first read this sonnet I thought the Oppenheimer funds had taken a nose dive and you were about to jump off a tall building (grin) Well done.....M.
This Poem was Critiqued By: Lora Silvey On Date: 2008-09-17 22:44:11
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 10.00000
Gene,
What an awesome poem, each word explicit in it's meaning, each thought well conveyed and with the opening of your words--man's shame...the many layers and thoughts this evokes are phenomenal for me, I could get on a box and biggen a tirade--unnecessary for you've captured my own sentiments most eloquently and without hesitation in this fine write. Thank you for shareing your gift with us.
Best always,
Lora
This Poem was Critiqued By: DeniMari Z. On Date: 2008-09-17 21:34:11
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 10.00000
Dear Gene, An intense write, easy to read and comprehend the meaning in each line.
Thoughts of destruction, chaos & pandomonium come to mind - the utter waste of technology - delivered to unsuspecting souls - charred beyond recognition - man made - weapon against any type of living creature on earth.
Very unique; soul full - and thought provoking.
Thanks for posting a reminder of what did, can and always could happen in our world.
Denimari
This Poem was Critiqued By: James C. Horak On Date: 2008-09-15 18:20:37
Critiquer Rating During Critique: 10.00000
I have solemnly insisted over and over again that ANYTHING placed into the hands of the
military/industrial complex and its toady "fetch" lap dog politicians would be tested no matter
what it might encompass...even sub-atomic matter cascade. With Dr. Oppenheimer it was that the
line had to be drawn early on before it came to a neutron bomb, before it came to even the time
distorting aspects of an H-Bomb.
In the movie, The Fountain, the view of punishing flesh and taking life for the greater good of the
soul is paralleled with that of this period's (The Inquistion) contemporary, Aztec and Mayan human
sacrifice. Sublimated even further, death becomes expressed as awe...the only awe.
The supreme instrument of madness, not in the hands of serial killers, but in the hands of something
much worse, those that have traded volition for consensus, conscience for power.
A slight misspelling, "grom" for grow. I'll give you a submission credit to change it...just give me
your user login name.
"Although there's only ashes left to taste"... I enjoy Biblical references when so subtle.
Gifted irony in "bloom" with "mad flowers" and in the meal aspect of "feast".
Extremely well metered lines and rhyme scheme in the last two lines. Making the last as summation
doubles their significance to the rest and is what the frame you've built builds the expectation.
In a sane world to look upon such a spectacle would be to weep.
JCH
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